Great guitar-fueled, free-of-charge music kicks off the weekend on THURSDAY (the 1st) with MARK CUTLER & THE TINY STRING BAND at Doherty’s East Ave. Cafe (401.725.1800), while THE KILLDEVILS (with special guest Marty Ballou) return to Nick-a-Nee’s (401.861.7290). On FRIDAY (the 2nd), STALEMATE and A TROOP OF ECHOES play the Colosseum (formerly and forever known as the Complex); the first 80 heads through the door will receive a free Stalemate disc, call 401.497.4200 for details. At AS220 (401.831.9327), it’s Swedish grrrl-power rock from THE BOMBETTES, with locals ARCING in support. And the Deer Tick doubleheader (with the don’t-miss-’em THOSE DARLINS) kicks off on Friday at Jerky’s (18+); on SATURDAY (the 3rd) they head down Broad Street to Firehouse 13 (all-ages); both shows are $15 at the door, and both will likely be sold out by showtime. A good South Coast show of note on Saturday is a 75orLess Records twin-bill with THE JESSE MINUTE (sounding better than ever with a new rhythm section on board) and THE BLOOD MOONS playing the Pour Farm in New Bedford; no cover charge, call 508.990.1123. And at the Ocean Mist (401.782.3740), a fistful of punk vets take the stage, including NEUTRAL NATION, DOPEY LOPES, and BRUNT OF IT. Head down early, the stacked lineup starts at 9 pm. Looking ahead, on TUESDAY (the 6th), AS220 hosts new local thrashers LIFERS with Psonen and Gunslingers, $7 at the door. And on WEDNESDAY (the 7th), local blues legend PAUL GEREMIA visits the Speakeasy at Local 121 downtown, call 401.272.2121.
Related:
Ghost stories, Winged migration, Injustice for all, More 
- Ghost stories
For all of the excitement that surrounded Wilco on the Maine State Pier or Sufjan Stevens at Port City Music Hall or the various sold-out Ray LaMontagne shows of the past year, there is no question that last Sunday's Phish show at the Cumberland County Civic Center was the biggest thing to hit our fair city in a very long time.
- Winged migration
Since their start in the middle of the decade, Brown Bird have been one of the region's go-to chamber-folk outfits, with a couple of dark and stormy albums earning them a following in various nooks of New England. The release of their latest album, The Devil Dancing , feels like both an ending and a new beginning.
- Injustice for all
Scott Sturgeon loses his train of thought a couple of times during this interview. He's loopy from jet lag — which is unavoidable after a 20-hour flight from New Zealand (halfway around the planet from his non-residency at a squatted apartment building in New York City), where he's just finished a tour with his claim-to-fame band, Leftover Crack.
- Wanting more
After its triumphant traversal of the complete Béla Bartók string quartets at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Borromeo Quartet was back for a free 20th- and 21st-century program at Jordan Hall, leading off with an accomplished recent piece by the 24-year-old Egyptian composer Mohammed Fairuz, Lamentation and Satire.
- Group hug
Things aren’t always what they’re called — we know that flying fish don’t fly and starfish aren’t even fish.
- Local heroes, ’09 edition
The Rhode Island music community flourished in 2009, with new full-lengths from the Coming Weak, California Smile, and the pride of Cranston West and official big-leaguers Monty Are I, who released Break Through the Silence in September.
- Local flavor
Local journalist and acclaimed hip-hop scribe Andrew Martin has corralled a flavorful roster of Rhody-based rap talent on the Ocean State Sampler , 10 exclusive tracks available for free download.
- Beyond Dilla and Dipset
With a semi-sober face I'll claim that hip-hop in 2010 might deliver more than just posthumous Dilla discs, Dipset mixtapes, and a new ignoramus coke rapper whom critics pretend rhymes in triple-entendres.
- John Harbison plus 10
Classical music in Boston is so rich, having to pick 10 special events for this winter preview is more like one-tenth of the performances I'm actually looking forward to.
- Shout it out!
Sharks Come Cruisin' founder Mark Lambert is a Warwick native with a penchant for reworking and penning sea shanties from centuries past, often revised with rollicking punk flare — all thanks to the golden pipes of Quint, the shark-obsessed skipper in Jaws .
- Punk wreck
Guitar punk rock has a long and, frankly, dull history.
- Review: In Search of Beethoven
Phil Grabsky's exhaustive documentary doesn't exactly dispel any stereotypes about Beethoven's being a shaggy genius prone to rages.
- Less
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New England Music News
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